Weaving five different tales from 1979, the author, a former Newsweek correspondent, makes a compelling case that these convulsions deflected the course of global history in a radically new direction. These stories are Margaret Thatcher's election as British PM, the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, John Paul II's first papal visit to his native Poland, Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms in China and the Iranian revolution. This is partly a book about what happens when the world stops co-operating with ideological categories and they lose their explanatory power. Caryl focuses on the shift from secularism and the welfare state towards a world where "markets dominate economic thinking" and "politicised religion looms large." These forces are with us still. Beautifully written, this is a bold, provocative and illuminating take on our time.
